Once you go sand, you don't go back!

[djhonda]

 

[invisyblegypsey]

i have two 180's both with sand one is black, the other is a sand from home depot thet is used in makeing cement. works great! and is a natural color for around $5 a bag for 50 pounds. altho it takes a little more cleaning,befor it go's in the tank.well worth the lil extra work for the price one tank with blak sand i used home depot brand for the fill.
and put a 1" layer of black on top .beacuse of the price it's around $20 for 20 pounds

 

[Bubbles0815]

Making a note of that!!! Smarty pants!!

The only fish I can think of that sand would be bad for would be dead fish . . .

 

[I<3fish]

What kind of cement sand is this? could you post a pic of the bag and does it stir easily?

 

[yellowFiN]

The knock on sand as a substrate is that the poop sits on top. Some say it's easy to clean some say its hard.

I've experimented with the position and strength of a powerhead (rio1700) to see where the poop end up and it ends up on the right side. The left side is clean.

So I made a little section on the right where I can siphon aggressively without disturbing the sand.

The powerhead is on a timer so the floor is clean when I wake up and clean when I get home...

!I love sand

 

[pcfriedrich]

nice setup!

sand is so much cleaner than gravel. it might look dirtier sometimes, but I'll sacrifice asthetics for the health of my fish. it doesn't even take 20 minutes to vac/waterchange (in my smaller tank, anyway). very quick and easy befor company comes over.

my tank never gets too dirty looking, anyway. I do waterchanges at least weekly.

even at its dirtiest, its still (in reality) way cleaner than it ever was with gravel.

 

[radioaktiv]

i have caribsea tahitian moon, and love it
i would highly suggest it

been using this for about 2 years now and since getting the puffer i wouldnt want anything else, it makes cleanup a snap

 

[[enjoyable_attempt]]

Hmm, I like gravel in my FW tanks, as I have sand in my SW lol.

 

[aeri]

The knock on sand as a substrate is that the poop sits on top. Some say it's easy to clean some say its hard.

I've experimented with the position and strength of a powerhead (rio1700) to see where the poop end up and it ends up on the right side. The left side is clean.

So I made a little section on the right where I can siphon aggressively without disturbing the sand.

The powerhead is on a timer so the floor is clean when I wake up and clean when I get home...

!I love sand

my powerhead (maxijet1200) blows away the sand as well as the poo so it leaves a 'bald' spot where you can see the bare glass. perhaps the sand i'm using is too light? are you using PFS?

 

[likestofish]

Ok Thanks! Is sand ok for Plecos and loaches? Just wondering if there are any fish that sand is NOT good for.

Sand is wonderful for loaches. They sift through and its better for their barbels.